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These pictures tells it all. It is what our travel trailer looked like one Friday afternoon after 3 p.m. after it started fishtailing until it finally came around and hit the side of our tow truck, which knocked the trailer off the base. I was driving on I-40 east of Knoxville going about 60 (our regular speed when pulling the tt) on a straightaway when it suddenly started. Fortunately, even with the heavy traffic, those behind us slowed and stopped, so nobody hit us. It was several seconds before I could get stopped (probably about 30, although it seemed like an eternity). I came off the accelerator as soon as it started swaying, trying to get control. It was jerking us every which way, but finally I was able to bring it to a halt, stradding all three lanes of the interstate (plus hanging over at least one of the shoulders.) I then drove it off onto the shoulder lane. (Note how that pulled the frame toward the back of the trailer bed.) I jumped out of the truck as soon as we got stopped and said to Larry, "We've got to get the propane gas turned off before it starts a fire!" (The gas/electric refrig. was running on gas while we traveled.) Then I grabbed a broom (the one we carry in the trailer was lying in plain sight in the wreckage) and started cleaning up the interstate, trying to salvage what I could and to get the glass up. We got three lanes open before the police got there (you should have seen me sweeping glass and debris off the road and directing traffic until we got them going again).Quite a few people parked and came to help. As soon as I got stopped and started to get out of the truck, one young lady came running up and asked if we were OK and said the police were on the way. 911 must have been inundated with calls as several people stopped and said they had called. We were able, with the help of some human angels, to salvage a lot of our belongings, although we lost a lot, too. But it was all just "stuff," and we were fortunate that not only did we not get hit, we didn't hit anybody. Everybody was so helpful and there were four highway patrolman who answered the call and stayed with us to the end (about three hours in the broiling sun at the edge of the asphalt with the heat from that and heat from the passing trucks and cars). As soon as they got there, the policemen blocked the right lane and the shoulder until three tow trucks came and towed it in (the three hours). We were trying to get into the mangled mess to save what we could. It was a horrible experience, but we were just glad to be alive and unhurt. And "stuff" can be replaced! It could have been worse - people killed (including us) or injured, law suits, hospital stays, etc. Two ladies from Virginia stopped and stayed with us the whole time, helping retrieve things. Both of them worked like mad helping. Then when they saw we couldn't carry everything we retrieved, they loaded the rest in their van and followed us to my sister's with it (in Knoxville). Fortunately, we had good insurance so the truck (only six months old) was repaired at no cost to us (they even waived the deductible). There was no damage to the cab part so the repair was mostly just lifting off the bed and fenders and bumper and putting on new ones. We think the fact that the truck was so heavy is probably the only reason it didn't turn over. And with the insurance settlement (ACV since the trailer was only 10 months old) we got a new travel trailer. (Again deductible waived by the insurance people - $250) And a couple of weeks after the settlement check came from Allstate, we received another check for $2,000 because of the "diminished value" of the truck because it had been in a wreck.
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